doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Market Slowing down...

Lets send all our labor jobs to other countries.
We could be a nation of computer geeks and old folks home workers then.
Btw, I'm not any of the above.

Then why don't we export the CEO's? They make millions a year.

Just my take, but salaries & wages for all sorts of jobs, whether bluecollar or CEO's, have naturally inflated from market conditions to attract the needed talent. The exception to the market conditions driving wages & salaries is where unions have driven them up.

IMO CEO's are paid what the board of directors think they're worth. If I'm not mistaken the BOD sets the salary and perk package. We just lost one of our best exec VPs to Ford, where he became CEO. They (Ford BOD) had to steal him (pay a huge salary/perk) from us and they did it willingly. I have a little bit o stock in my company and I'm willing for them to pay for the best that the company can afford in a CEO to ensure the success of the company.

Jimmy W, you do know the difference between a credit card and a debit card? I bet 99% of those credit cards that you are seeing are debit cards.

You open up any checking account now days and the bank wants to give you a credit card look alike that is a debit card. Same M/C or Visa logo. They do this because electronic transactions, which all debit card transactions are, cost them less to process than a paper check and at the same time they earn a fee for the transaction. By using the card the bank earns a fee from the seller for the transaction one way or the other. Electornic transactions are cheaper than paper ones for bank to process. Heck if a bank handles a check they do not make any money from the seller only the account holder if they charge fees. Banks love debit cards and wish that the entire world used them for all transaction.

People just do not carry cash on them anymore. I bet that if you stand in a grocery store you will see three times as many debit transactions as paper checks. People are lazy and have found out that they just have to swipe their card and go. stopping by the bank to pick up cash is not what they want to do. They rather just use the card and be done with it. Same thing at fast food. Fast food only went into the electronic transfeer sales in last few years so they could keep sales up. That paperless society that I heard about 30 years ago is a paperless money society and it is aobut to happen soon.

As to jobs and unemployment the figures do not lie just those who try to use them. Many of the unemployed are content to be unemployed as long as they get benefits. Just like a large % of those on workers comp are happy to be there. I deal with them, both unemployed and workers comp, almost every day. I hear more complaints about the weather from them than anything else.

Skilled labor is still in demand, educated people always will make a decent living. They are smart enough to adapt to changes. Poorly trained or the lazy will suffer because they either can not or will not improve thier prospects by increasing their skills.

Gone are the days of lifetime jobs. Heck, few trades or few industries will be reconizable in 40 yeas to you or me. Think about the machinest who learned how to operate a milling machine 20 years ago. If he can not learn to operate a CNC milling machine his job will be gone in a very few years. That is why 45 year old men are looking for work, the jobs they knew how to do, do not exist anymore. Blame progress if you want. I am sure that teamsters, who drove dilivery wagons, hated trucks when they first came around. But they either had to adapt of starve.

Unskilled labor is hurting and will do so for a long time. Too many people looking for to few unskilled jobs. Why pay more, when others will work for less?

But this the problem with all of us in this respect. We seek the short term reward and do not care about the long term cost. If you shop at Walmart do not bitch about not having a decent high paying job. Every imported, item that you buy, cost you a few cents out of your next paycheck. The cost of that item was sent over seas and will never really be returned to your pocket. Walmart type sellers sell imported goods and the cost of the goods is being drained out of the coutry. Fast buck for them and a slow drain for us. I do not shop at Walmart or any other of the same type stores unless there is no other chioce and then, like many here, I try to buy American. Hard to do, or even impossible many times, but I try.

The only thing we as blue hairs can do about the situation is to buy intelligently and let the younger set get cheated in the marketplace. Become a non-consumer, wear your socks for years, plant a garden, buy loading components in bulk, don't pay interest, get top dollar for your good bird guns. Murphy

VERY OT, as usual, but I was interested in Ted S's remark about job change and the "bouncing upward" that often happens when one is forced out of one's (apparently) secure position.

I've had a similar "career" (my career has been more like the verb "career" than the noun...) and come to the conclusion that for guys like me a kick in the butt from the economy (substitute: wife, fate, lousy boss, merger, acquisition, plant closure, divorce, etc.)is usually a good thing, however stressful in the short term.

Most of the people I know who got the old time "job security" (such as academic tenure) have been miserable for years. I haven't had time to think about it much. (Be careful what you wish for?...).

As we move into the 21st century, I believe it is impossible to buy only American goods. In fact, I don't think the average person could recognize what's made where, since even raw goods that make into finished goods may come from off-shore and no labling is required.

I don't believe there is an all-American built computer anywhere. All the major components (mother and daughter boards, drives, case, etc.) are made off-shore.

Neither does anyone here have a TV built in the U.S. that was purchase in the last 20 yrs.

Most of us wear clothes either fully made off-shore or the fabrics were made off-shore or possibly the raw cotton was grown off-shore.

IMO, our buying habits won't like change enough to make any difference in the trade ratios to favor the U.S.. I beleive it will continue to go the way it's going.

IMO, our only salvation will be our ability to innovate and manufacture new high value products sought by our competitors around the world. We're experiencing the effects of the world catching up to us and our manufacturing portion of the GNP slipping to less than half of what it was 40 yrs ago. The economically aggressive stance of the EU on the U.S. trade is a precursor to tougher times in the U.S., and it's going to happen very quickly IMO. The EU, IMO, is trying to make up for past trade imbalances with the U.S.

That's what I see out of my little knothole, anyway.

There is no reason for anybody to use or even accept the issuance of a debit card on their bank account. It's your option, and you may refuse.

I will never have a debit card.

1. An error or fraud, and your money is gone until you prove the error or fraud. With a credit card, they don't have your money until you send it.

2. Credit card companies pay you to use their cards now. One percent cash back (more on fuel) is common and easily available. I'll play the paperless game for 1%. Over the course of a year, that will pay for a very nice day shooting.

This 'check 21' crap is disturbing. All that is needed to debit your account is a routing number, an account number, and a check number. NO actual document need be present, and no signature verification. Again, the consumer gets to plead his case in the event of error or fraud. The only real defense to this seems to be keeping a low balance in checking type accounts.